What is your definition of casual vs hardcore?

For me it comes down to ease of entry and time. If a game is easy to pick up and doesn't require too much of an investment than it's casual or casual leaning. Meaning anyone can really pick it up. But if it requires more time and skill to master it's hardcore or hardcore leaning. You would need more time for practice and such. You, SW?

Love vs. Time waster

A lover of videogames who spends time keeping up with the industry, plays videogames for the experience and is dedicated to the hobby is hardcore. People who just want to move time forward with small bits of gameplay during life and are not otherwise invested in videogaming as a whole are "casual".

Hardcore. Games that take years of dedication to get good at. Ones that are super competitive and require perfection of every aspect to be good at. Ones where when you watch a pro play, it looks like a computer with a full suite of hacks playing instead of a person. The only objective is to keep ranking up.

ie Counter Strike, Starcraft, DOTA

Casual games are ones where you sit on a couch and just play. Games that don't require immense practice. ie cinematic games (TLOU) or most AAA shooters (Titanfall, Killzone)

How much time you spend online telling people how hardcore you are

The amount you lift whilst playing games.

Can't say I concern myself with these terms. Think they're stupid, and I just play what I enjoy.

in the end you are playing a game and every single one is a casual experience .

and if you consider sitting on your ass while pissing around in an imaginary war zone or dungeon or race track hardcore then i don't know what to tell you.

probably something like.

something something just enjoy your game and quit defining unimportant shit like it is some kind of a major life choice something something something else related to reality that you don't want to hear.

@lundy86_4: I can lift 5 doritos at a time !

Whoa! My record is exactly one Mountain Dew. Or maybe half a Strongbow.

Wow this is a damn good summery of my own opinion. Well done.

Casual - You.

Hardcore - Everyone else.

(This has been the definition I have been told by many knowledgable Internet folk.)

This seems like the best answer.

Casual gamers - people that play for the fun of gaming but play here and there and don't care what people think of them, they play and have fun. These are usually the type of gamers with jobs, that are supporting a family, and have lives outside of gaming. If they lose in a game, it's still fun to them. They don't take it seriously.

Hardcore gamers - The type of gamer that plays only for their reputation. Not necessarily to enjoy gaming but to say "I'm better than so and so" or "I have such and such console so I'm part of the "cool" crowd. These are the type of gamers that claim they love change and new things but when change comes to a franchise they love, they burn down the internet. These are the ones that care about achievements/trophies. These are also the insatiable gamers. The ones that are never satisfied with a game, even if the developer does exactly what the gamers wanted them to. The ones that rely on DLC and buy unfinished games knowingly only to complain about it not being finished. These are the gamers that whine and rage when they are losing in games such as Call Of Duty (usually the underaged children fall into this type of gamer).

True Gamers - Gamers that play games for the fun of it and will put time into games enough to become good yet still have lives outside of gaming. These kind of gamers actually have friends locally to play games with. They love pwning Hardcore gamers just to hear them whine and rage lol

Glad I'm not a Hardcore gamer

It's all about the gamerscore.

People with a low gamerscore don't get laid.

I've stopped defining it. If you say you are a hardcore gamer, you are a hardcore gamer. I couldn't care less.

To hell with the labels..... My Candy Crush playing sister is just as Hardcore you so called "hardcore" gamers. Even if she only plays it just to pass by the time and not actually just for fun.

The amount of time spent playing games and how it stacks up against time spent consuming other media

Hardcore: spending time mastering like those in the MLG. They try to earn money at it.

Casual: having fun playing games. The rest of us.

I guess to me the "difference" lies in a few things. A) how serious someone is. B) the type of games they play. C) how much time they invest. How I explain a casual gamer is someone who buys the big AAA blockbuster titles exclusively. They get the NBA 2K's, the Call of Duties, the Maddens, etc. and that's all they buy. They only play games when they are very bored, have time to waste or are just screwing around with friends. A hardcore gamer is someone who follows the industry, gets games that may not be blockbuster titles but are fun. Plays games as a hobby as opposed to just wasting time. Neither one is wrong, it's all a preference really.

@Wasdie: Thank you sir.

Does it matter? We'll playing games, that should be enough.

Its just a foolish term to separate gamers. Which shouldn't be happening.

Saids guy who didn't score 1k on Ride To Hell: Retribution.

To me it is...

casual = person that doesn't play games too often.

hardcore = person that plays video games a lot.

The type of game has nothing to do with it to me.

Casual: trolls, haters and fanboys.

Hardcore: manticore gamers.

Casual: gaming for the purpose of having fun

Hardore: taking gaming so seriously that you have no fun

like, angry birds is casual since there is just 1 control...a 5 year old can play it and a 90 year old can play it

hardcore is multiple controls, more difficulty

hardcore = you're really good at the game & play competitively...you're not hardcore just because you are really into the game but really bad at it.

casuals = those just play for fun, being good or not good..don't play competitively.

Well when the phrase was really first used in the 80s it referred to the games that one-upped the challenge level to the player, as well as people that would seek out these challenges. There's very few games in this criteria, anymore. I'd say fighting games are really the last of this "genre", if one were to categorize it. No other genre(fighting) out there, outside of some nintendo games, really supply that musicality to videogames anymore.

Casual Games : You pick up on weekends and finish their 6-8 hour campaign ; full of cutscenes and scripted events , without breaking a sweat . Everyone can play those games , even non gamers .

Hardcore Games : Dedicated to fans of specific genre (sometimes a very niche market) . Such games are more difficult and you need to invest few hours to learn everything about the game . Once you do , the results are rewarding and leaves you satisfied . Such games are not for everyone .

Anymore I steer away from the word hardcore as it implies different things to different people.

I tend to look at it as Dedicated vs. casual, and I notice it's a word that comes up often in this thread. The difference between the two is time spent on and passion for games.

And it's the same as any other hobby or medium. There are dedicated and casual sports fans, movie fans, My Little Pony fans, scotch fans, Cake fans (both the food & band), and every other person, event, and thing that people enjoy.

Hardcore = Stayed up all night to watch the E3 Press conferences.

Casual = Doesn't know what E3 is.

Interest is the only way to determine where you stand on something, the amount of games and time you put into your game is meaningless... Since all that measures is the amount of free time you have.

casual a normal person. hardcore a person who is obsessed and needs help. has a superiority complex because they play games the "right" way.

casual - owns a pc with less than 8gb of ram or does not own one at all

Someone who needs game assist's like maps,radar,objective markers,aim assist...etc

that's the difference the hardcore dont want any of that kinda stuff.

My definition is: I don't give a dam.

Casual: Play games in their spare time for the enjoyment of it. Play whatever they feel like.

Hardcore: Genuinly believe that playing video games for hours and hours every single day is a "hobby" and not just a waste of life. They enjoy collection these huge libraries of video games and take great pride in playing games that are super hard and challenging. The "hardcore gamer" will often be seen belittling people who are not as good as them at video games, since this makes them feel better about spending huge chunks of their day in front of a screen interaction with virtual figures.

So many ways to spin this. I always stick by rule, if you have an account to SW and you argue about systems, you are a hardcore gamer. True story.

I think less about the type of games and more about the kind of gamer when it comes to terms like "casual" and "hardcore". I think of casual gamers as people who maybe game not that often and sporadically, and maybe get games that only appeal to their particular or narrow tastes or kind of just get a few of the trendy games. I think of hardcore gamers as those that really try to branch out and play everything and broaden their horizon of gaming experiences, spending lots of their free time gaming and always out trying to get their fix, and are eager to talk about gaming with like minded people.

If you have to think or read in the game it's not for casuals.

You mean like SNIPER and Uninspiredcup? They're SO hardcore.

why do people have so much problem defining these things anyway? Do you guys know what the word "hardcore" means, right?

Hardcore - the most active, committed, or doctrinaire members of a group or movement. Very active and enthusiastic.

Enthusiastic - having or showing intense and eager enjoyment, interest about something.

Is this hard to understand? ^

This is the only answer...To me their is no such thing as "casual" and "hardcore" games either, games are just games regardless of type.

I think.

Casual: Likes linear uncomplicated, ''straight to the mission'' games.

Hardcore: Likes nonlinear fairly challenging games, that makes you use your mind.

Pretty much. This is a moving target IMO.

Casual today: Probably most 2-3 year old and most 70 year olds could pick up, not completely fumble and feel a bit of satisfaction as opposed to playing recent dual stick competitive shooters or games like SC, LoL, etc.

Casual decades from now: (some of our generation) can still pick up and not completely fumble with dualstick shooters (with extensive use of all other buttons) and similar games to MoBa.

It's still subjective. Some consider those thousand hours candy crushers and facebook gamers "hardcore".